Need some help for ZFS.

W

Wrench00

2[H]4U
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Sep 30, 2003
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I would like to build ZFS san storage device.

I would like to build it around a Norco 4224

I have these parts so far,

Quad 6600 + Heatsink.
8 Gigs of ram
Intel Dual Lan card
650 watt Modular PSU.


I was thinking about getting the HP Sas expander card (I got access to HP OEM ordering)
I need a raid card -> I was looking at a IBM M1015 (LSI SAS2008)

I need a decent motherboard >Intel S3210SHLC?

What else do I need?
 
Pick an OS and make sure all your stuff is supported/has drivers.

Also decide if you really want to invest in a Core2Duo system when it's 2 generations out of date now. I'd at least consider just buying enough HBA's to hook up your drives directly instead of the SAS expander. From all the threads going on on the board I would shy away from them unless you absolutely need them (not enough PCIe slots, etc.). If you are going with the M1015 you can buy 3 of them for the same price as an HP expander, so really it's just a question of motherboard slots.
 
I'd at least consider just buying enough HBA's to hook up your drives directly instead of the SAS expander. From all the threads going on on the board I would shy away from them unless you absolutely need them (not enough PCIe slots, etc.). If you are going with the M1015 you can buy 3 of them for the same price as an HP expander, so really it's just a question of motherboard slots.
Click to expand...

Agreed. With ZFS you do not want hardware raid so an HBA is desired and with HBAs its usually cheaper and faster to use more HBAs instead of an SAS expander provided you have enough PCIe slots.
 
Note that the M1015 does not work on FreeBSD platform for the moment, because M1015 can not be run in IT (non-RAID) mode, but only in IR (Integrated RAID) mode.

It works great under Solaris platform though, and FreeBSD probably will support it at one point. For now, however, only the non-RAID 6Gbps SAS controllers work with the 'mps' driver.

The M1015 cannot be flashed to IT-mode firmware from LSI/SuperMicro. So obviously that's a serious constraint. Do you really need 6Gbps links? Buying the 3Gbps LSI chip would leave you with more software options, and for HDDs should not affect speeds except for slightly lower latencies. Those lower latencies you probably kill by using RAID firmware which increases latency again. The best is a controller without firmware active that let's each I/O pass through the SoC-chip.
 
You need an HBA, not a RAID card. I can suggest several:

LSI SAS2008-based:
1) LSI 9211-8i
2) Dell PERC H200
3) IBM M1015 (actually, this one can be funky to use as an HBA, but I've read about some success)

If you're willing to spend a little more, and have use for 16 ports, go for the best one:

LSI 9201-16i.
 
Will any of these HBAs work effectively in a PCIe 2.0 slot that is electrically 4x?
 
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